Love Ridden
by Spazzplosion
Summary: Love ridden was the sort of feeling Namine felt whenever she looked at the guy who used to be her best friend, Roxas. It was the sort of feeling she wished she didn't have, because they'd obviously never have something like that... Would they?


**Love Ridden  
**_Partially inspired by the song Love Ridden by Fiona Apple_**  
**_Oneshot_

* * *

_A barely audible sigh moved through the silent bathroom. The yellow tinted light above the mirror was harsh compared to the soft darkness of the rest of the house. It was a bright, cheery bathroom, with sky blue edging along the wall and a rubber ducky print shower curtain. But the girl sitting cross-legged on the closed toilet seat was unaffected by the happy decorations. Her eyes were red-rimmed and slightly puffy. Her thin body was hunched over, and something small and shiny glinted in the light as it glided across her thigh, guided by her delicate hands._

_It was as though the glaring light reflected off of her. She was such a pale girl, pale skin, pale blonde hair, pale baby blue eyes, and a simple pure white night dress. The way the blood bubbled up out of the cut was surprising with its candy-apple coloring. It welled up and slowly began t drip down her inner thigh. If one looked closely, they could see the white scars of past cuts decorating her upper thighs and even a few across her wrists._

_Another quiet sigh began to ease through her, but it was cut-off by a sudden heart-wrenching sob. The small razor was dropped as she curled up and buried her face in her hands, fighting to keep her sadness more contained. An hour passed before she could compose herself. With a tear-streaked face, she carefully wiped up her blood and put small bandages on her new cuts._

-

The alarm clock was loud, but not nearly as jarring as Kairi's angry shriek. Namine slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes and looking for what had upset her sister.

"Snickers! I cannot believe- NO! Stop that! AUGH— You stupid cat, at least **move** before you start that again!" Kairi was yelling as she waved her arms at the chair in front of her desk. The sound of a cat retching could barely be heard over her constant yelling.

Knowing there was nothing she could do to stop the cat from further ruining the uniform Kairi had laid out, Namine got out of bed and headed to the bathroom. Other than Kairi's yelling, the house was comfortably quiet. Her feet silently padded across the carpeted hallway, hardly making any sound. Even when she stepped into the bathroom, the click of the door locking was the loudest sound in the hallway.

As she pulled on her own uniform after her shower, she had to rub at her eyes. She felt plenty awake, but her eyes were puffy with dark smudges underneath them. She looked as though she hadn't slept in weeks. But there was nothing she could do about that either.

-

Namine smiled at how beautiful the fresh morning sky looked. If only she had the time to stop and sketch it. If she could just capture it on paper, she'd be able to complete it later. Her sister's delighted giggle pulled her out of her reverie.

Sora and Roxas were walking towards them. Sora's smile was goofy as he attempted to discreetly walk faster. His eagerness to be with Kairi would have been cute, if it didn't make his brother's lack of enthusiasm so apparent. Kairi didn't bother waiting for Sora to reach her, and simply ran at him, throwing herself into his arms. Namine forced her smile to stay large and happy as she fell in step next to Roxas. His nod of acknowledgement was al the hello she received. He didn't even take out his skull candies. She nodded back, giving up a bit of her fight with herself. He wouldn't notice if she were unhappy, who was she trying to kid? They walked together in silence. Namine's eyes focused on Sora and Kairi's laced together hands. She didn't catch Roxas' sidelong glance. It was an uneventful walk.

It wasn't until they reached school and Axel came loping over that Namine realized she hadn't said a thing all morning. Sora and Kairi parted from their group, waving goodbye as Sora walked his girlfriend to her classroom. A faint claw of envy began its way up Namine's throat, making her feel nauseous, but was thrown off by the strength of the hand "patting" her on the back. She turned towards Axel.

He grinned down at her. "Morning, Sunflower!" He slipped a companionable arm around Roxas' shoulders. Roxas yanked out an earbud and shoved at his best buddy.

"Oy, get offa me, you loser," he snarled at his friend. You might've thought he was angry , if he hadn't been grinning from ear to ear.

When Roxas had successfully fought Axel off of him, Axel moved to hook arms with Namine instead.

She offered a weak smile and a mumbled, "Hello."

Axel didn't falter over anything. He tweaked her cheek. "Well, if Roxas won't play with me, I'll have to make due with his girl."

Namine forced out a laugh, but nearly choked on it when she saw the angry way Roxas' face had flushed. She watched him shove the earlier removed earbud back into his ear and felt an overwhelming urge to cry. She couldn't even pretend Axel's joke had been funny. Roxas didn't want her; didn't want her in the least bit.

Today was not going to be a good day.

-

_The emotions of the song softly playing from the tiny CD player were strong and Namine had to force her hand to slow down. The strength of the sorrow rose beautifully, before it dove into momentary silence. The figures in Namine's sketchbook lept and spun, fell, curled up and slowly stretched. Faint figures could be seen dancing in the pale light of dawn, acting upon the actions speedily sketched in the well-worn book._

_Or maybe the figures were all in her mind's eye. Namine didn't know, and part of her simply didn't care. The sunroom was lit by a nearly burnt out candle and the soft, penetrating light of the rising sun. As the sun rose higher into the sky, the visions of the dancers faded out into nothing. The neighborhood woke up. Kids were screaming on the other side of their fence, and someone was moving around in the kitchen. The need for sleep rushed over the Namine as she hunched over her sketchbook, desperately trying to still capture the feelings her music portrayed. When the house had quieted into a relative silence, she'd found she couldn't sleep at all. It was too quiet, she was too restless. After a mandatory visit to the bathroom, she'd settled into the dark, empty sunroom. Freshly bandaged thighs peeked out from under her tiny white night dress._

_With an adorably discreet yawn, she gathered up her things, clicked the off button the CD player, and went back to bed. It may be early morning, but it was a Saturday. Nobody would miss her if she slept the day away._

-

Early morning sun peeked around the edges of the thick dark curtains covering Roxas' windows. All the lights were off, but the tv was on and figures were leaping towards eachother on the screen. Loud KIYAH's and HUH's came out of the speakers, interspersed with dramatic sounding AAAH's whenever someone got knocked down. Laying on the ground in front of the TV was Roxas, wearing a t-shirt and boxer pants, and what might've been Axel. The redhead was so bundled up in blankets, it was hard to see that he was even participating. Only his head stuck out, and the cord for the controller just seemed to disappear into one of the folds.

A single, longer AAAH cut through the sounds of the fight, and one of the fighters on the screen collapsed. Roxas threw his controller at the bundled up Axel. "Jesus! That's like, what, the billionth time you've won!? How do you even play from inside that thing!?"

Axel smirked at the outraged Roxas. "Well, I already told you, I'm too **awesome** to lose. Also, it's cold. This thing keeps me nice and toasty, just like I should be." He ignored Roxas' snort. From his tone of voice, you could tell he'd be gesturing around snootily if his arms weren't trapped inside his blankets.

"Please," Roxas said derisively. "It's not like your gonna catch a cold. It's not even in the fifties!" He pointed to the thermometer hanging off his bunk bed for dramatic emphasis.

Axel squiggled a bit, looking like he was trying to burrow further into the blankets wrapped around him. "Hmph!"

When Roxas ignored him and proceeded to turn off the PS2 and haphazardly throw the controllers somewhere onto the table that the PS2 and TV were sharing, Axel tried to scoot his bundled up self closer to the blonde. He smiled mischievously. "Well, I guess I wouldn't mind the cold so much… if only you'd help keep me warm!" He toppled over into Roxas' lap.

"Augh! Axel!" Roxas laughed and tried to shove his friend off. "I'm straight, remember?"

"Oh, please. Everyone knows you want me, why don't you just admit it?" He winked.

Roxas burst into laughter and gave up trying to push Axel away. It was pointless. No matter how skinny his friend was, those blankets weighed a lot!

"Well, I guess if you're straight, we can discuss the one girl you **do** want." Axel's tone was suggestive, and Roxas' blushed immediately. He went back to trying to get the redhead out of his lap. "You shoulda seen your face yesterday morning! Hah! Man, have you got it bad."

Roxas glared. "I do **not** have a crush on Namine! Will you stop saying I do?"

His friend responded by sticking his tongue out at him. "Of course not. But really, you like her. You want to huuuug her, you want to kiiiisss her." His voice was a singsong croon.

"Ugh!" with a disgusted look on his face, he flopped back onto the pillow he'd pulled off his bed earlier in the night. He looked at the window, examining the way the edges of his curtains looked fuzzy with light. "Aren't your feet getting cold?"

"Mmm. Subject change." Axel looked like he was trying to see his feet, but the blankets stopped him from moving. Roxas could see toes just barely poking out from inside the bundle. "Yeah, actually, they are. But I can't seem to move." He gave a nervous laugh.

Roxas grinned evilly before he rolled out from underneath his friend and reached for the exposed feet. Axel was yelling before he even got there, but once he did he started tickling. And Axel's yells turned into laughs. They sounded a bit hysterical. The redhead sounded like he wanted to escape, but the blankets prevented even that.

Suddenly, Axel gave a triumphant cry. His relentless wiggling seemed to have prevailed! One of the feet Roxas was tickling pushed out and kicked Roxas in the cheek.

"AUGH. You asshole!" Roxas yelled angrily. His cheek was a splotchy red, and he looked like he was checking all his teeth.

Axel laughed. "You deserve it! Jeez, tickling me like that. You better be glad you're not ticklish. I would **so** get you for that if I could."

Satisfied that nothing was chipped or loose, Roxas half-grinned at his buddy. "Are you ready to come out of the blankets yet? I'll even turn the temperature up five degrees!"

His friend grumbled something and began wiggling more. Roxas did as he'd promised, grabbing the remote for his a/c and pushing the plus sign five times. The room would be at seventy degrees when the a/c stopped gushing sixty-five degree air out and gave the room time to heat up a bit. When Roxas looked back at Axel, the redhead was out of the the bundle, but still wrapped up in one comforter. It was tucked around him though, only loosely held in place my his hands, and under his feet. He looked grumpy.

"See, it's not so bad outside of that monstrous blanket shell!" Roxas patted Axel on the back and settled in next to him. His friend only shot a glare at him. "People will start to think you hate the cold or something if you had kept that up." Roxas grinned and bumped his shoulder against Axel's.

Axel mumbled something but Roxas didn't hear it.

He leaned in towards his friends face. "What'd you say?"

More mumbles. Axel actually turned to face him.

"Sorry, missed it again."

"I SAID, I **DO** HATE THE COLD. Also, I still think you like Namine." With that said, he turned away again.

Roxas was flustered. His face heated up again and he scooted away from his friend. "I still say you're wrong." He looked at his hands. He knew they were epically smaller than Axel's. Everyone had hands bigger than his, even his brother did, and they were both the same short height. Everyone that is, except for Namine. Her hands were tiny and delicate, with calluses on her fingertips and on the side of her middle finger on her left hand from her drawing. He would never say it out loud, but he loved her hands. His blush had gotten worse while he'd been thinking. "She's totally not my type. I mean, she's Kairi's sister, to begin with. It's bad enough my brother is dating that skank, but if I were to like Namine, that'd put me in an even closer relation to her." His face scrunched up unpleasantly. "And she's so pale, you'd think she never sees the sun!" Roxas was so wrapped up in finding reasons he shouldn't like Namine, that he didn't notice Axel turning back and examining him. "She hardly ever talks anymore now, as well. I'd like someone I can actually converse with, ya know?" He finally glanced over at Axel.

"Actually, you have a point there. Lately she hasn't been talking like, at all. I'm a bit worried." Axel's voice was concerned. Roxas looked surprised. "What? She's my friend too! And ya know, she does seem to watch you a lot. You should try actually talking to her yourself. She's a shy girl, I don't think she's gonna start a conversation all on her own."

"She used to!" said Roxas, his tone defensive. "We used to talk all the time, and I didn't have work for it."

"**Exactly**," Axel stood up, dropping his blanket to the floor. "Let's go find some food. I need caffeine, and something hot to warm me up inside."

-

Light shone through thin eyelids, determined to make them open. Namine blinked, and scrunched up her eyes, trying to block out the bright sun. She groaned as she sat up, wondering why her sister had opened the blinds and curtains. She'd closed them when she'd come in, so obviously she didn't want the sun on her. The room was empty now though. Even Snickers had wandered off to somewhere else. She glanced at the clock as she yawned. It was only one in the afternoon. She'd gotten five and a half hours of sleep. With a shrug, she pushed her covers off and made her way over to her dresser. It was enough sleep to run on, she'd made it through a day on less. She could hear her sister's voice through the door, though not what she was saying. With a tiny yawn, she slipped out of her dress and pulled on some baggy gray shorts and a light pink baby tee. She shook her hair out, paused, and pulled a hair tie off her wrist to pulled back her long blonde hair. Only a few strands and her bangs were left hanging around her face. Suddenly she was able to understand what Kairi was saying, just as the doorknob began to turn.

"Just hang a minute you guys, I opened the blinds when you called, so she should be up pretty soon, if she's not already." Kairi stepped into the room, her body half turned to the hallway as she talked to whoever had come to see Namine. When she turned to see if her sister was up, Namine stared back at her as she took a swig out of the bottle of water on the bed stand. Kairi smiled at her. "Hey, Axel and Roxas stopped by to see you. They're out in the living room."

Namine nodded and gave Kairi a small smile in return. She wouldn't be expected to answer. Kairi was the talkative one, not her. "Thanks, sis." The door closing behind Kairi would've been unnoticeable if Namine hadn't been watching her close it. She sighed, combed her fingers through her bangs, and headed out to the living room.

-

Roxas pulled at a stray thread on the couch cover he was sitting on. His brother's skanky girlfriend came out from the hallway that lead back to her and Namine's room and walked into the adjoining kitchen. She looked at him and Axel over the counter.

"You guys want something to drink? She'll be right out, she was just getting dressed." She smiled innocently.

She would've been cute, if her skirt weren't so short or her halter top so tiny. It ruined the sweet little girl look. Or at least, that's what Roxas thought. He'd heard his brother praise the look with his friends plenty of times. He supposed his brother had to like it, since he was dating her. Why would he date a chick he thought dressed like a whore? He shook his head in answer to her offer.

Namine walked appeared in the hallway entrance, and Roxas had to force his smile away. He always felt so happy to see her that he had to shove it away. Liking the girl who'd been his best friend since they were babies was not cool. So his smile turned into something that was caught between looking like he was mad and like he just didn't care. Axel though, had no qualms about being happy to see her. He stood up and held his arms wide.

"Look, it's my favorite blonde! Come give me a hug!" he said. He pointedly did not look at Roxas as he said this.

She blushed slightly, and Roxas couldn't help but notice how cute it was. A small smile played at her lips and she walked over and hugged Axel. Knowing Axel, it would've been a long hug, but she pulled back. Her voice was soft, sweet sounding. Roxas loved the sound of her voice.

She looked up at Axel, "Wouldn't your favorite blonde be Roxas?"

Axel grinned at her. "Naw, Roxas is no fun, he won't give me hugs. You on the other hand," he wrapped an arm around her. "Give me hugs whenever I ask for them! See, much better than Roxas."

Roxas was still watching her, so he caught the way she glanced at him, and the way that her face still had a faint trace of pink to it.

It was embarrassing, the way Axel was so affectionate. Namine only wanted to hug and hold onto Roxas, but that was obviously out of the question. But, Axel seemed hell-bent on **something**, so she wasn't going to say anything. Not that she would've if he hadn't been determined on whatever he was focused on. She wasn't assertive like Kairi. She didn't really want to be either, but she had to wonder if Roxas would notice her more if she was. Axel jostled her shoulders and looked at Roxas. He didn't look happy to see her. But then, he never did anymore.

"Anyways, we're gonna go check out some of the shops in the older part of town. We figured we'd drag you along as well." He still hadn't looked at her, so she wondered why he was talking at all. "Will you come willingly, or will I really have to drag you with us?" Then he looked at her. He was all smiles, as per usual, but his eyes looked a bit frustrated.

She allowed herself a glance to Roxas, only to see his usual blank-ish look. He'd pulled away from her a bit in the past year. It was how she knew their friendship was dieing. Obviously they still hung out a bit, occasionally going to the mall on weekends or sitting around the house watching TV, always walking to school together, but it'd been ages since they'd had an actual conversation, or joked around together. "I… suppose I'll join you guys willingly. There's nothing to do around here anyways." She glanced at her sister who was leaning against the counter watching them. Kairi smiled at her and winked. Namine stared for a minute but was still sort of baffled by it.

"Good, good." The tall redhead steered her towards the door and didn't bother checking to see if Roxas was following.

Roxas sighed loudly, Namine could hear it even though she was across the room with her back towards him, and she heard the sound of fabric rustling. She turned to the kitchen and waved at Kairi. "I guess I'll see you later."

Kairi was grinning now. "Sure, sure. I might be out with Sora, but I'll see ya whenever." She made shooing motions with her hands. "Now scat, I gotta get ready!"

Axel laughed, and out they went.

-

So far they'd gone to one store. It was a little cutesy shop where Axel aw'd and coo'd over all the cute little plushies and such. Roxas could tell he was trying to get a reaction out of Namine, but she only smiled at his antics. The shop owner glared at them when they left. Roxas figured if he ever returned, he'd buy something to make up for the guy putting up with Axel's silliness for half an hour. Now they were sitting on a pile of decorative rocks at the park. They'd been here for another half hour, sitting the sodas Roxas had grudgingly paid for. Axel had insisted that since he was playing tour guide, of course Roxas should have to pay for whatever snacks they got. He snuck a glance at Namine. He smiled to himself. Her t-shirt was just barely too small. She was leaning back, staring at the sky as she sipper her soda through a straw, and just a bit of her tummy was showing. Once again, Roxas was struck by how cute she was. He quickly looked away. It wasn't like him, to feel this mushy. He didn't like it. By time he looked back, he was scowling again. Axel raised an eyebrow at him. He shrugged.

"Do you guys hang out her a lot now?" asked Namine, her voice soft, and just as pretty as the rest of her. Roxas was surprised she'd said anything at all.

Axel shrugged, even though she wasn't looking at him. "Not really. Roxas once told me you two hung here a bunch. Why don't you anymore?" Roxas' perked up a bit, curious at her reason for her pulling back from him like he'd done with her.

"… I don't know. We just stopped." She looked down, examining a bit of rock next to her hand. Her lips quirked into a small smile before drooping back into her usual sad expression. "We used to carve things into stuff all the time. Not that mushy stuff you see benches or anything, but silly stuff and quotes."

He was surprised she remembered that. It'd been a year. Maybe that wasn't really that long, but it sure felt like it. Roxas spoke up for the first time since his argument with Axel over paying for the sodas. "Do you remember any of the stuff we carved?"

A smile actually spread across her face and she looked straight at him. She hadn't done that in ages either. "Once we put, 'Procrastination is like masturbation. Its all fun and games until you realize your fucking yourself.'" She giggled a bit and sat up. "That's so lame too. God, we were such losers."

Axel snorted. "Wow. Ya know, I don't think I've ever heard you curse before." He threw his empty soda bottle at Roxas. "Jesus kiddo, you're such a bad influence!"

Roxas threw his arms up in self-defense and prepared to throw a snotty comeback back at Axel, when he heard Namine laughing. He looked over at her rock. She was hunched over laughing like he hadn't heard at all in the past year. Whatever he'd been about to say went right out of him. Instead, he found himself smiling. And when Axel started laughing as well, he joined in. Maybe their time together wouldn't be so bad.

-

The sun was setting over the apartment's roofs. Though they had gone out and checked out other shops and mooched more snacks off of Roxas, they'd always returned to the little park. Now though, it was only Roxas and Namine. Only a few minutes earlier, Axel had shoved himself off his rock and wiped down the back of his pants. He said he figured he better get home and cook something for himself, seeing as his asshole older brother probably hadn't. They'd waved goodbye, but once he was gone, had been rather quiet with each other. Roxas was hoping Namine would take the first step again, but she remained silent. At least it wasn't the cheerless sort of quiet he'd become used to. She was kicking her legs back and forth as she watched the sun make its way past the roofs of the apartments lining the far side of the park. It was a content sort of silent; the sort that you would get among friends. It cheered Roxas a little bit to know that she was comfortable with him right now.

He steered himself to actually say something. "So, you wanna head home yet?" He actually grinned back when she smiled at him.

"I guess… You gonna walk me?" She replied teasingly.

If he were the playful type, he would've assumed an aghast sort of look. Being the unenthusiastic boy that he was, he smirked instead. "As if I wouldn't. You're so helpless, you'd probably get kidnapped or something horrible like that. Axel would kill me, not to mention your sister."

Namine laughed and slid off her rock. Today had been the best day she'd had in ages. She didn't really want it to end, but at least she'd get another hour with him. The walk never felt long, but this park was further away from her house than her mom was actually comfortable with. She waited for him to follow suit, then took his empty bag of chips and her Snickers wrapper over to the trashcan to throw out.

They walked together on the sidewalk, their arms occasionally brushing against each other. The first five minutes were pretty quiet, when out of nowhere, Namine playfully shoved Roxas towards the bushes lining the sidewalk. She was smiling, and Roxas couldn't find it in himself to yell at her.

"What the hell was that for?" he definitely didn't sound angry. He was even smiling back.

"I don't know, you weren't talking." Namine laughed. "As if we're gonna hang out like this again anytime soon, let's not waste time now!"

Roxas looked at her a bit funny. "Why wouldn't we hang out like this again?"

She shrugged, her smile wilting a little bit around the edges. "I don't know. You're always so busy and such, and I'm always doing… stuff." He didn't know it, but by stuff, she meant something along the lines of wishing he'd call or visit. But that wasn't the sort of thing she'd ever tell him. If their friendship was going to pick back up, she didn't want to throw it all off again with her silly feelings. Because that's what they are, she thought to herself. Silly, just plain out silly.

Roxas eyed her for a minute before he started walking again. "Eh, I'm sure we can do this again." He glanced at her to see her reaction, but she was looking at the ground as she walked. "You know, I'm free tomorrow too, i fyou wanna meet me at the park or something."

She actually looked up at that. His voice was so hesitant, she even looked at him. But now he was just staring straight ahead. She sort of nudged him with her elbow. "But aren't I too helpless to get to and from the park by myself?" She smiled coyly at him, hoping he'd look at her.

He did, and when he saw her smile, he huffed into laughter. "Right! Well, I guess I'd have to come be your escort, if you'll agree to come."

Namine's coy smile instantly morphed into a bright, happy one. Roxas thought it fit her better than the almost constant air of sadness that she usually had. They finished the walk home mostly in silence. Every now and then one of them would blurt out an idea for the next day. It was a comfortable, companionable walk, and Namine missed it after Roxas dropped her off. If only she lived a bit further away from the park, if only.

-

_The glaring yellow light over the bathroom was as bright as eve. The house was finally quiet again. Kairi had returned home later than usual, and a loud, angry argument had ensued between her and their mother. Namine hated it when they fought, but did her best to ignore it. Her mom had a point, but it wasn't as if Kairi was going to change now. Namine examined her familiar looking razor. It was a triangular shaped one, one that would fit into her paper cutter pen. She always had plenty, her being the artistic type, and paper being something that always dulled sharp objects. It was chilly enough out that she could wear a long sleeve shirt tomorrow, so she didn't hesitate to lightly press the blade against her wrist. She sighed and her body instinctively relaxed, ready for the release of her skin splitting and the blood flowing. She just barely pushed, just barely pulled, when she caught herself. A dot of blood was welling up at what would've been the newest cut in her collection. Instead of finishing it though, she just stared at the short, bleeding line._

_Why had she started this? Because she wasn't good enough. Otherwise Roxas would've wanted her, instead of that depressing girl, Paine. He wouldn't have pulled away from her a year ago, would have called more often and continued to talk to her. But he hadn't. And so she knew that something was wrong with her, and it made her so sad. Hate felt like too strong a word to use, and yet, it was the only one that fit as a name for the distasteful emotion she felt whenever she looked in a mirror, or Roxas turned away from her again. And when the hate grew so strong that it hurt, she had found that this let it all out. It was like she bled it out of herself, like a medieval cure._

_But she though about the hesitant way Roxas had asked her to hang out tomorrow, of the half hopeful sound of his voice. It wasn't the sort of voice she was used to him using with her. It was so kind, so..._

_She thought about when he'd begun pulling away from her as a friend. She remembered the way she'd sometimes catch him looking at her, his face showing something that looked almost like disgust. But what if she hadn't been what was disgusting him? What if? She examined the the few scars decorating her wrists, and the rows of scars and scabs alike covering her upper thighs. What if?_

_She set the razor back into his tiny, separate case, and slid that into the pencil case she'd kept it in. She showered and went back to bed, but spent the entire time wondering, what if?_

-

The sun was bright and cheery as it shone through the glass doors and walls of the sunroom. The room was like a peninsula in a sea of grass, the backyard. Namine sat in the middle of the room, comfortably settled into a beanbag chair and eating scrambled eggs out of a bowl. The possibilities of "what if" were still running at full speed through her head, and she found herself actually feeling hopeful. It was distracting, and she allowed it to distract her. She was pulled out of her thoughts though by the ringing of the phone sitting on the coffee table that'd been shoved into a corner. Taking her time setting down her bowl and getting up in hopes of someone else getting the phone before her, she eventually picked up. No luck. It was just her and the caller. "Hello?"

"Hey, is Namine there?" She recognized the voice, but couldn't quite place it.

"Yeah, this is her."

"Oh, great! It's Axel." He laughed. "I just wanted to talk to you about something... Are you free this afternoon?"

She was curious, but not curious enough to blow off Roxas. As if she'd **ever** be curious enough to blow off Roxas. "Actually, I'm not. Roxas and I are going to hang out some more."

Axel was silent for a minute. When he spoke though, his voice was cheeky and happy sounding. "Oh really? Well that's just fantastic! In fact, Roxas is what I wanted to talk to you about." A slightly nervous sounding laugh. "He's gonna kill me for this when he finds out I told you, but I figure its about time you knew. That, and I don't think **either** of you have the nerve to take the first step." He paused.

"What are you talking about?" Namine felt something that felt suspiciously like hope rising in her heart, and she fought to squish it back down. "Axel?"

"Roxas... likes you. Has for a while, I'd say a bit over a year now."

The hope burst past her barriers and turned into happiness. An unbelievably strong happiness. It was even better than yesterday. She didn't realize she hadn't responded until Axel asked if she was still there with a bit of a worried tone of voice.

"Oh, oh yes, I'm here. But now I really have to go. Thanks Axel!"

She hung up.

-

When Namine opened the door for Roxas, he felt as though she were bright than the day before. In fact, she looked almost giddy with happiness, her smile open and excited. He hadn't thought she'd be this worked up over a trip to the park. For the first time he wondered how much she actually got out. He started to say something but she grabbed his arm and nearly dragged him back to the snazzy sunroom in the back of the house. He half-laughed when she practically shoved him into a beanbag chair before settling into her own, right next to him.

She continued to smile, except now she was staring as well. He scratched the back of his next in a sort of sheepish manner. What was all this about?

"Roxas, be honest with me. Have I ever disgusted you?"

The question startled him, and was so at odds with her attitude that he actually thought about it. He scrunched up his face a bit when he responded. "Once, I guess, when you tired to convince me that mud pies were good for a balanced diet and actually ate some of one."

Her blank stare was not the response he'd expected. She blinked before slowly smiling again. "Uh, that was like what, eleven years ago?" She leaned forward a bit. "So, really, we're still just like best buds?"

He questions were so odd today! "Yeah, I don't see why not."

She looked down and sort of blushed. "Do... do you like me?"

Roxas gaped. Axel, he thought. This must be Axel's fault. How else would she know? He worked so hard to hide it! Oh he was going to **kill** that man. Before he could stumble out a response, she spoke again.

"Because, I really like you." She looked up at him, made contact despite her obvious embarrassment. "I think we should like, get together some more often or something."

He had no clue hot to respond to that. She liked him back? Did she love him the way he might finally admit that he loved her?

"Roxas?"

He looked up at her, at the way the happiness seemed to leak out of her eyes the longer he was silent. Still not sure what to say, he leaned forward and hugged her. "I think that's a great idea."

**END**

* * *

**Author's Note: Hay guys! First off, if you just read this whole thing, I congratulate you! You have read the first fic (out of the gajillions I've started) that I've actually finished. And though it's only a oneshot, and a pretty crappy ending, it's a start! Right? RIGHT?!  
Right. Well, now I got that out of the way, I also want to say that I do not support or suggest cutting. It's not smart way to take care of your problems. Especially if they're something like a boy not liking you back. This was story was written on a whim, and I liked the way it fit into the idea.  
Also, I really am not a fan of Sora/Kairi in any way, shape, or form. Roxas POV on her is sorta like mine. I mean, I don't hate her or anything, but I definitely don't like her. Also, this is the first het fanfic I've ever written! Proud of me? Cos you should be. xD; I always write yaoi. Which I sorta find odd, considering I'm a girl and therefore will never experience things that way. But that's not the point. Fandoms don't have to make sense.  
Anyways, thanks for reading this guys, and please, PLEASE, review now? I need tips, so that all my other stories will improve off of this. :D  
PS: Roxas dated Paine for a little bit back before him and Namine had their fallout. Just a btw.**


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